Institutions, Incentives, and Ideas: Advanced Topics in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Catalog description

This course offers an advanced exploration of core themes in philosophy, politics, and economics, with a focus on how institutions structure cooperation, conflict, and the distribution of power and resources. Students will examine models of strategic interaction— including collective action problems, signaling, and social choice theory—alongside normative frameworks for evaluating legitimacy, justice, and institutional design. Readings and case studies span historical and contemporary contexts, and special attention is given to topics such as information cascades, preference falsification, market failures, the carceral state, and inequality. The course emphasizes interdisciplinary reasoning and the integration of formal, empirical, and philosophical tools to analyze real-world social and political systems.